Watch Video

Transcript

Voice 1

Voice 2

And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

It is January 2005. A man named Lawrence Summers was speaking at a conference. The conference was about women who work in science and engineering jobs. These kinds of jobs are called STEM jobs. STEM is the first letter of science, technology, engineering and math. It is a well-known fact that most of the people who work in STEM jobs are men.

Voice 2

At the time of the conference, Summers was president of the famous Harvard University. His words made a lot of people very angry. Summers claimed that men were more highly skilled in math and science. He said that people should consider that genetics could be the reason more men than women are in STEM work. Some people were so angry at this comment that they walked out of the conference! The next day, media around the world were talking about Lawrence Summers' comments. It is true that fewer women than men have STEM work. But is genetics the reason? Could it be culture, or history? Are women able to be as good at STEM jobs as men? Today's Spotlight is on women and STEM careers.

Voice 1

Almost every part of modern life involves technology and science. The global economy needs more and more people working in STEM jobs. The UN reports:

Voice 3

"New ideas and improvements in STEM are very important. They are able to help achieve long-term development and the end of poverty."

Voice 2

The UN reports that in the area of engineering, men are the majority in almost every country. They also report low global percentages of women studying computer science. The Elsevier Foundation is an international organization that supports women in STEM jobs. The foundation did research in countries in some of the world's largest economies. These included the US, Korea, India, and Europe. They found that less than 30% of women study STEM subjects. However, the problem is even more serious. In some countries, women are studying STEM subjects. But they do not take jobs in science, technology, engineering and math. Sophia Huyer is the Executive Director of the international organization Women in Global Science and Technology. She told the US News and World Report,

Voice 4

"Being able to get an education is not a solution all on its own."

Voice 1

Women are half of the global work force. But less and less women are going into STEM jobs. Many different theories exist about why more men are in STEM careers. One of the most common is that women are less skilled in science, technology, engineering and math. Many people believe this. But Jo Boaler disagrees. Boaler is a math education professor at Stanford University. She told Stanford Press,

Voice 5

"There is a huge belief that boys are better at math. This does not agree with the information we have. And yet people believe it. You go into schools and the children will tell you that."

Voice 2

People also think that women do not choose STEM careers because of marriage and children. They say that STEM jobs are more demanding and difficult for people with family responsibilities. Often STEM jobs involve big projects. Employers commonly expect workers to leave behind everything else until the project is finished - even if they have to work in the middle of the night. Lawrence Summers also talked about this in his comments about why fewer women work in STEM. He said,

Voice 6

"The best reason I can give is the general conflict between people's family desires and employers' desires for high power and high intensity."

Voice 1

Also, many women say that they do not try to get STEM jobs because other people discourage them. Jennifer Selvidge is a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is one of the top schools for studying STEM subjects. She wrote in a Huffington Post blog,

Voice 7

"I am an engineer, an honours student, and a woman. People have also told me hundreds of times that I do not deserve to be where I am."

Voice 2

Many people believe that it is not fair that women do not have an equal chance to work in STEM jobs. So people around the world are trying to get more women into STEM careers. One way is by celebrating the achievement and raising the recognition of women in STEM careers. For example, the Elsevier Awards are given out by the World Academy of Sciences, the Elsevier Foundation, and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World. These awards go to women in science from the developing world.

Voice 1

Eqbal Mohammed Abdu Dauqan is one Elsevier Award winner. Dauqan is from Yemen. She is the head of the medical laboratory science department at the Al-Saeed University in Taizz, Yemen. Dauqan told the Foundation,

Voice 8

"My father is in engineering. My mother is a house-wife. But she was pushing me to finish my studies. My older sister is a doctor in geographic science. One cousin is an engineer."

Voice 2

Elsevier award winners come from all over the world. But one thing that many of them share is a strong system of support. The women scientists say that they have support from husbands, children, parents, and extended families. David Ruth is the Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation. He told US News and World Report,

Voice 9

"You see a lot of women coming to get this award with their families. They have a support network. In parts of the world where gender is more of an issue, it takes more than one individual to be able to succeed."

Voice 1

Women like Eqbal Mohammed Abdu Dauqan show that women can be very good at STEM careers. And more women are getting support from organizations like the Elsevier foundation. Hopefully this will result in more women in STEM jobs around the world. This would provide more equal employment for women. And it would help their families and communities.

Voice 2

But it would also help science and technology. Women often have a different viewpoint and experience than men. They bring important skills to the STEM subjects. Maybe, with more women in STEM jobs, these quickly growing areas would improve even more!

Voice 1

The writer of this program was Jen Hawkins. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, “Women in STEM Jobs."

Voice 2

Tell us what you think about today’s program. You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at radio@radioenglish.net. And find us on Facebook - just search for Spotlight Radio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!

(Get our app for Android or for Apple devices. Let us know how you like it and write a review!)

Question:

Why do fewer women than men work in Science and Technology jobs?

Comments

Sign in to leave a comment

Women should be provided a possibility to choose a job appropriate for their education in any case. There is a well known fact the domain of Science and Technology does not attract women very much but they really can excel at other fields, for example the social sciences, medicine or arts. Unfortunately, a woman is often compelled because of her successful career to give up her desire for marriage and children, for happy homelife, that is why nowadays many women still live single until the older age. However, after reaching the career a woman may realize it is too late to have children and family. The general look on woman’s mission seems to be controversial enough.

kenhieuloilam

said on March 13, 2015

We learn many subjects at school when we are a student. Science and technology serve the life. If we are good at science, technology, engineering or math we can research, design or may even make an invention. Both boy student and girl student may be good at the subjects of science, technology, engineering or math. It is very interesting that a boy student or a girl student is very good at the subjects of science, technology, engineering or math. We are living in our world. We make our world better and more beautiful. We make our world beautiful. We are responsible to our world. We contribuite to develop our world. We do beautiful good things for our world. Our contribution may be big or small. Our world exists. Our contribution brings us great honour.

Pablo Vinicio

said on March 14, 2015

nice

Kaleb Kolaibi

said on February 22, 2017

At the Hidden Figures movie we see that Woman can’t works with Men in Science and Technology center because She is was, first, a Black and, scound, a Women.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/
G-d bless you

0

said on February 24, 2017

Really! im a student and studying to become a engineer. my class has over 50 persons but almost of us are boys, only 2 girls :)) But, they are more intelligent than most of boys

My English Class

said on March 02, 2017

I liked the program a lot. First of all, it showed different points of view. I agree with some of the opinions (but not with Lawrence Summers!). We can conclude that the situation is slowly changing. I am a woman and I have been working in a STEM area for thirty plus years. I notice that nowadays there are a few more women involved in my field than when I started, and they are more easily accepted too. However, I believe there is still a strong cultural factor that makes it difficult for women to work in STEM careers. One of the reasons for this is that these jobs require a strong commitment from the employees, but women do not receive as much structure and support from society as men do. It has nothing to do with skills. Hopefully, women will start to get more support to become more involved in STEM jobs.

Honneur

said on April 26, 2018

In my country, Brazil, women is trainned since they are childs for to be a housewife. Notwithstanding some changes in this process, Brazilian women have a long trail to access STEM, unfortunately…